Dissidia Legend of Gaia
by Meinos Kaen
Summary: In a world where hopes for a better future seem nothing but a chimera, where whole continents have been lost, realms wear facades of freedom and kindness, not everything is lost for it is told of 'Twelve specks of light, everlasting and everburning' AU


Disclaimer: I don't own Dissidia or any Final Fantasy game, otherwise that would make me Sagakuchi, right? And I think this story would make a pretty cool game.

Well, what can I say. Dissidia is by now one of my favourite games ever, and while the storyline is good, I just have to wonder what would have happened if they had made a real RPG out of it, with an extended storyline, a World Map, dungeons, etcetera. So, while playing with AutoRealm, a map making program that I use once in a while, inspiration hit me as a train.

First, a premise: this will not be an extended narration of the Dissidia game. I fused elements from many final fantasy, included but not only the ones in Dissidia. Be it for the world map, the characters, the storyline, but at the same time they will not be 'canon'. I revamped and mixed everything to create an unique storyline, an almost completely original one. Almost because, as I said, you will recognize story elements/events/hooks from many, many Final Fantasy.

On a side note, since I'm aware that not everyone can have played and finished every Final Fantasy that has ever come out, I will soon upload bios of the characters and the places that appear in my merged world, along with maps that I'll update every once in a while, on my deviantart account. I'm Meinos Kaen on there too.

So, what else can I say. The stage is ready, the actors are about to come onto it, one word left for you to read: enjoy.

_Prologue_

"Welcome. What can I get you?"

"Something strong." It had been one of those days. One where something he had done, seen or heard had reminded him of the past, of a precise event. He always needed something to distract himself when that happened, and more often that he liked to admit it was some kind of alcoholic beverage. The bartender nodded and lowered himself down to pick up something from under the counter. A bottle and a quite large glass.

As the amber-coloured liquid filled the cup, the blonde haired man turned around to stare at his surroundings. Another way he had found to 'entertain' himself when it came down to a memory crisis was to observe his surroundings, taking them in to the last detail. The pub was quite normal but it looked seriously old and kind of soiled, like everything in that city. It looked like everything was darker than what he was used to see: animals, things, people.

The people's 'darkness' got expressed in their facial expressions, the way they walked, talked. The way they lived. It was like they sweated sadness and tiredness, some more of the others. The other people drinking in the pub were a bit better off, it seemed. _… And since when did I become such a good judge of character?_ He shook his head and turned back to the bartender, feeling the familiar sound of some ice being plucked into a glass full of alcohol. He muttered a soft 'Thanks' and took out a coin out of his pouch before grabbing the glass and putting it to his lips.

"Hmm…" The bartender picked up the coin and his eyes widened in surprise. It was a coin made of real gold. "Haven't seen real gold in ages around here."

"You can keep the change." He said, interrupting the sipping action for the instants he took to answer the bartender, who was observing the coin more in detail. The object had on one face the carving of the head of a hawk, symbol of the empire. On the other face, there was the carving of a moon. It signified that the coin was mainly used in the eastern part of the Imperial Mass, and judging from the man's reaction about the change, it probably meant that he didn't know of the value of a golden coin in that place, he had many more, or maybe both.

"Now, this is strange." The blonde haired man just finished his drink, letting the strong burning sensation fill his whole throat, seemingly ignoring the bartender. "No, seriously. You're the first person from the Imperial Mass with this kind of coin that I've ever seen here in Lix. What did you come here for, man?"

"… Sightseeing." The blonde haired man replied, earning a loud snort from the bartender.

"That's precious! Ah, I say, I like you. First time in months I've laughed, I think." The bartender sat on his own seat on his side of the barstool, observing the man a little better. He sure didn't look like a normal imperial citizen. He was girded as a traveller. Most of his clothes were covered by the brown cloak he wore, that included a hood that was currently resting on his back, between his shoulders, not being used. The only thing he could see was that his arms were mostly naked, were it not for the fingerless leather gloves and an armour bracer he wore over the left forearm, while the right one was covered in some kind of spandex-like tissue. "Sightseeing… And exactly what did draw you to this continent? This town, the only settlement in the whole continent? The monster-filled southern-part of the latter above which the sun never has settled again in four years? Or the northern part, which has been inhabitable since millennia before?"

"… The second one." The man said, getting up from the stool and grabbing by the handle the enormous object that had been resting beside him, leaning on another stool. Judging from the shape, it was some kind of weapon, but the bartender had never seen a weapon that big, but his mind was more on the man's reply, that earned a groan from him.

"Darn it, you're of those treasure-hunters or monster-hunters guys? Sorry to burst your bubble, but no one has ever come back from whatever is left behind the village's gates. There could be hell on earth for all we know." The bartender said, reminiscing that some had gone so little out of the city that they heard their dying screams. Fortunately, they had been just three. All the others had died far enough to not hear them scream. They were hotheads who looked for an 'easy' earnings or just believed all that they heard about Lix and the southern part of the 'Lost Continent' just stories for scaring children before bed.

"… Hell on earth, hn?" It seemed that this time the mind-numbing effects of the alcohol weren't strong enough, or maybe the bartender just had a peculiar ability of using certain words at the wrong time. The blonde haired man stopped just in front of the door, his sack and weapon both hanging by a strap on his back. "I've been there already." With those enigmatic words left behind, the man opened the door and walked out, leaving a perplexed bartender to scratch the top of his head.

--

"Hmm…" Once out, the blonde haired man brushed off a bit of dirt that had fallen from the door's arc on top of one of the spikes in which his hair were arranged. He himself had never understood why they grew in that fashion, getting joined together in those enormous spikes. People had joked about it, saying that it was like a woman's natural bra, but he couldn't find another similar phenomenon in human physiology himself. He shrugged the thought off as usual, though, and focused instead on the preparations he needed for the upcoming 'sightseeing trip'. _I will need supplies, and also a map of the region… But it's unlikely that they will be up to date. The real details of what had happened in this continent have never been cleared to the rest of the world, but one thing is sure: it was massive._

Like the bartender had said, it seemed like the sun had decided to refuse to shine above that continent ever again. Lix was the only human settlement remaining on the continent, a community of no more than two thousand people on the shore, and its sky was always filled with dark grey clouds, and looking at the horizon it seemed to get darker and darker the more the distance from the shore grew. Also, he had to correct his previous thought. The things around didn't look darker, but weaker. The earth he walked on, the wind that he felt grazing his face, the flow of water in the bay, the fire he had seen burning in the pub's fireplace, the people, everything seemed weaker that what he was used to see.

"… I wonder… Uh." He had almost been bumped into by a couple of kids, who, much to his surprise, seemed far more alive than the rest of the village. They were running towards the city's docks, and he could see that a few more were joining them in their run. He focused on their words, and he clearly heard one say the words: 'The pirates! The pirates are coming back!'

"Hm…" That sounded really strange to his ears, since he failed to see how pirates could be a reason of happiness for children.

--

"Ahh… Nothin' like comin' aft home with a ship fool o' loot. Right, captain?"

"Just shut up and take everythin' off board, idiot." The pirate shivered and then immediately hurried off and down from the ship, taking with him a crate of 'loot', imitating his other companions, while his captain groaned. "T' damn end o' t' world has come and gone and they still be t' same sacks fool o' scurvy and grog…"

"Yeah. You can't help but love your pirate crew, right ma'am?" At the voices of yet another member of the crew and the subsequent snicker, the pirate captain turned around to glare at the brown haired young man walking with a sack of cloth over his right shoulder.

"It's captain Faris, ye chocobo-lovin' bucko. You have no idea how harder t' command they've become ever since they've discovered I'm a beauty. Try t' not remind them o' t' thin' too much, will you?" The words expressed in a tone of anger earned yet another set of snickers from the man, who just walked past her with a smirk on his face.

"Aye-Aye, captain, but you should try to tone down the pirate talk. It has gone up like double time ever since they discovered you're a 'beauty'." He stopped right before stepping off the ship and onto the docks, a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmmm… I wonder how you'd talk if you'd been a 'buxom beauty'… OW!"

"STOP SPUTTERIN' NONSENSE OR I'LL FEED YOUR BIG MOUTH AND T' REST O' T' BODY T' T' SHARKS!" With a precise kick on the lower part of the man's backside, he was sent flying for a couple meters, landing face first on the wooden docks. He recovered quickly, holding the now sore right side of his face.

"Darn, she sure knows how to kick… Oh?" His face's soreness seemed to have an almost immediate recovery, seeing how his face had suddenly displayed an enormous smile for the children that were rushing at him. "Hey, guys. You've been good birge rats?"

"Bartz! You're back!" While Faris groaned with Bartz' usage of one of the worse pirate insults existing to greet a bunch of young, innocent kids, the young man got back on his feet to avoid being rushed into the ground by the incoming stampede. On his feet he managed to stay standing when they lunged at him in a hugging fashion. "You've been away longer than the last time! And last time too!"

"It's the prey's fault! It seems like we've become too terrible even for other pirates! We have to go a bit farther every time to find a lootable ship." Bartz said, patting the overexcited kids on their heads, while Faris made her way off the ship as well.

"Damn starboard. If it keeps on goin' in this fashion, we will have t' go into t' Guardian Islands' port t' find somethin' t' pillage." Faris said, after getting off the ship, and she was met with the confused stares of the kids and Bartz who was trying to hold his laughs in, and failing miserably. "I mean… We will have to go more and more far to find a ship to steal things from."

"Ahhhhh…" The kids said in chorus, and Bartz just let out all the laughter he was holding in, much to Faris' embarrassment. "Alright, alright. Stop embarrassing the poor pirate lady and come here. We got some booty t' go through, y'arrr!"

"Yeah! What did you find?! What did you find?!" Bartz kneeled down in front of the kids and opened the cloth sack. When they searched the ship of turn for valuables, he always kept a peculiar attention for toys and everything else that the children could use.

"Hmm… We've got a few books… No complaining, Rogan! Reading is important! Or do you want to become meatheads like the guys in bandannas behind me?!" Bartz shut up any further expression of bore with that affirmation, even if the pirates started muttering bloody murder under their breaths. He got out said books from the sack, a few kids going for them immediately. "Then we've got a few toys, as in a ball and three wooden swords…" Little did they know that he had been the one to make those swords with repair material he had found on the ship. He then dove his arm down into the sack, now almost empty. "Hmm… I think that's all… Ah! No, wait! There's something else… Hmmm…"

Bartz was having problem with pulling out whatever it was remaining inside the sack, like it was attached to something else. He stuck out his tongue and focused, and that was how he ended up pulling his foot along with the rest of his body through the sack. "… Oh." That earned a round of laughter from the children, seeing how Bartz had fallen on his back in a comical way, for the children. The man feigned a frown and then got up on his feet. "Alright, alright. The show's over… Or do I have t' eat a leg or two t' make you avast?! Y'ARR!" Most of the children scampered away laughing, much to Bartz' delight, and behind his back, Faris was displaying a smile as well. The young man blinked when he noticed that just a single kid, a little girl, was left, holding one of the books he had found to her chest. "What about you, Alexa? Got a spare leg?"

"Bartz, what do you do with the money you find? You really put them all away?" That question took Bartz by surprise. He was sure most of the villagers had noticed that he and Faris shared everything they managed to loot except for money, not that it mattered much, since they had no way to spend it. Merchants from the empire came there just once a month, along with everyone who wanted to reach the Lost Continent and consequently, Lix. He hadn't expected a child to notice, though. He recovered soon enough and grinned at the little girl.

"Sorry. It's a surprise. I'm saving it all up for something good." He replied, and the little girl's face seemed to lighten up.

"I knew it! You're saving up for when you marry Faris, right?!" That took both him and Faris by surprise, with the woman blushing as red as Bartz's small mantle.

"Me marryin' this scurvy infected dog?! I'd rather kiss a weevil!" Faris immediately replied, caught by surprise more than Bartz, and putting up an instinctive defence with her pirate 'lingo' and turning her face away while crossing her arms over her chest. Bartz chuckled and patted the little girl's head a little.

"Heh. Sorry to disappoint you, Alexa, but me and the captain aren't planning on get married…" Bartz' reply seemed to calm down Faris' blushing a bit, even if there was something that just didn't fit with the concept of belief, since she was slightly biting on her lower lip. "Anytime soon." The blush was back in full force, while Bartz offered the little girl his best smile. "Now, go play with your other friends and when you finish that book come tell me about it, alright?"

"Yes. Later, Bartz!" The girl nodded with a happy smile on her face and ran away from the docks, Bartz following her with his gaze, till his head and gaze were tilted down by a sudden blow to the back of his head.

"W-W-What the hell?! Anytime soon?! Do you realized just what she will think, now?!" Embarassed and whispering, Faris toned down the pirate talk, while Bartz just rubbed the new sore spot with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Just let her dream. It doesn't hurt anyone, right?" The brown haired man said, turning to the blushing girl wit a smile. "Also, why not follow her advice and settle down? Drop the pirating, a family, kids…"

"Yeah. Fireplace, a cat and maybe some damned sewing utensils. I'm just 24 for Cosmos' sake! Also, the people living here need our pirating now more than ever." Faris replied, her face going from offended to deadly serious. Bartz laughed again in reply, but this time in a lower, darker tone.

"Darn, Faris. The moment I start cracking jokes with a serious tone, you take them for serious statements." The man said, startling Faris a little. Even after four years, and even if she knew the reason of his sudden change in mood, she still wasn't used to Bartz donning that expression, from time to time. She thought she would never see it on the ex-wanderer's face. He turned around and walked past her, seeing that two pirates were having trouble unloading a barrel. "Come on. It seems like your crew has some problems."

"… Right." Faris shook her head, clearing her thoughts. A lot of things had changed in four years, and lots were still going to change, hopefully for the better. She just had to go with the flow.

"Damn, this thin''s heavy!"

"What did they put into this thin'?! Lead?!"

--

"… I see." From the end of the docks, a lone figure had been observing the scenes that had occured till a few moments earlier, driven by curiosity and confusion about the children's behaviour. _They're not just pirates… They're their own pirates._ He nodded to himself, satisfied with having discovered the truth. It seemed that those pirates were the city's very own, pillaging and looting for themselves officially, but unofficially they shared the things they stole with the people of the village. "… I should get going." _I will depart first thing tomorrow morning._

--

"Another ship?!"

"Y-Yes! Sorry to bring you bad news, Captain Yang, sir!" The soldiers had decided to take turns in bring bad news to their captain, because every time the man was brought really bad news, he reacted in the usual way: he broke something, and many times sent shards flying for the room. This time he had limited himself to punching the top of the desk, cracking the object of furniture in two neat halves.

"Damn them. A thousand times damn them! The more we limit the trade routes the more they follow us?!" He chose to continue his harassing of the poor piece of furniture by pulling the table's legs and then using said legs to crush the other remains.

"I… Will take my leave, then…" The soldier slowly backed away after leaving the report on the floor, opened the door without turning around and got out of the room, only to bump into someone on his way out, with his back. "Sorry, I… Ah! My lord!"

"Easy, soldier. You've done nothing." The armour-clad individual replied, limiting the soldier's uneasiness. The man swallowed and bowed deeply, and then ran the hell out of there, not feeling 'easy' at all, standing in the same corridor as a member of the royal family of the Guardian Islands. The man observed the soldier walk way before stepping into the Captain's office. "Yang? You busy?"

"Just who… Oh, great." Yang stopped laying damage on the once fine piece of furniture once he recognized just who was the person that had entered his office, a frown immediately appearing on his face. "Just what I needed to make my bad day a hellish one."

"… It's a pleasure to see you too, Yang." The man in armour raised the front part of his helm, revealing his face, adorned by his deep blue eyes and a few strands of long silver hair that made their way to the front of the helm.

"The pleasure's all yours, Cecil. Better get used to it soon, even if four years should have been more than enough." Cecil moved the remains of his battered desk out of the way and spun around the chair, sitting in the opposite fashion than normal before picking up the report the soldier had left on the floor. "What brings the prince of the Guardian royal family here in the remote New Fabul?"

"… I've come to help with the situation regarding the pirate attacks." Cecil said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Yang snorted.

"Best thing you've done in years, Cecil. This is something we can use some help from the upper spheres, since I suppose you've come here with a wing or two." Cecil nodded, confirming Yang's hypothesis. He had been made captain of the Red Wings again, and as such it was comprehensible that he had come to New Fabul using one of the airships.

"We will follow from a distance the ships more likely to be targets of boarding. That way, if there's another incident, we will be ready to intervene." Cecil continued, to which Yang nodded while reading the file.

"Good thinking, but you will be waiting a bit. Ever since these attacks have started, we noticed a pattern. It's like they stop making attacks for a period of time that goes from a week to ten days once they've accumulated a certain amount of goods, probably when the ship gets filled. With the last ship they boarded, they reached the amount we have estimated to be the ship's fill. Quite a big one too, the greedy bastards." The monk said, scratching his chin with his free hand, all under the scrutinising gaze of Cecil.

"… I think it's the first time I've heard you swear, Yang." The Dark Knight commented, earning a dark laughter from the bronze-skinned man in front of him.

"After what we went through and these last four years, I picked up some bad traits, I guess… Not as bad as yours, though, Cecil. Backstabbing is probably the worst trait ever you could pick up." Yang said, and Cecil's face tensed a bit.

"You're being unfair, Yang…"

"How so?! Maybe you forgot or you just got used to ignore the fact that it's because of your oh-so-dear brother's tampering with the crystals that the things shattered, completely releasing whatever it was that started eating away at the southern part of the continent!" Yang had got up from his chair to look at Cecil in the eyes, expressing the usual fury and indignation that the knight had gotten used to.

"My brother was under Zemus' control, and you know it." Cecil said, meeting Yang's fury with his usual calm. "Also, do I need to remind you that it was because of his agreement with the emperor that we managed to avoid destruction?"

"Yeah, I do remember how he talked the emperor in ripping apart a whole continent, killing thousands of people in the process! And right after we 'settle down' as the 'Guardian Islands', surprise! All hail King Golbez!"

"It was a hard decision to make, but it saved hundreds of thousands more! Or would you have preferred our realm to meet the same end as our neighbours?! Swallowed up into darkness, overrun by monsters!" Cecil raised his own voice, getting into the exchanged of opinion a bit too much than he usually let himself be.

"Yeah! That, or we could have fought back! Like were doing against your brother! We could have fought back!" Yang was now in Cecil's face with his own one, and considering the ten centimetres of height that the monk had on Cecil, it meant that he was basically above him.

"Against what?! A mass of darkness devouring everything in its path?! How?! There was no time, and you know it! We've lost Mysidia and many people died, but many more survived! Not everything can be resolved with weapons or your fists, Yang! You should know it!" Yang gritted his teeth, but he had no reply to that last statement. Cecil took a few deep breaths and then calmed down, lowering the helm's mask once again. "My brother saved us, Yang, and you do nothing but hold against him the fact of having become our ruler when no one else could… And the death of your wife."

"… And I blame you for forgiving him everything he has done. Do not forget that. Ever." Yang said, his voice now low but not less venomous and angry. Cecil shook his head and turned around, facing the door once again.

"This is pointless. I will see you in a week. I suggest that you calm down before that." Cecil slowly opened the door, but feeling that Yang wanted to say something more, stopped under the door's arc.

"… If your brother has changed and redeemed himself, why does he keep on calling himself Golbez?" Yang asked, and this time, it was Cecil's turn for not having an answer.

"… I will ask him next time I meet him, I guess." The Dark Knight stated, before closing the door behind him, leaving an angry monk alone with his memories.

--

"… The map is pretty detailed, but I doubt it's updated." The blonde haired man had found enough supplies during his day of 'shopping', since the merchant ship with which he had arrived had not left yet, but the real problem was the map. As he had suspected, he had found a map, but it looked old, older than four years, older than maybe ten years. So, it was probably not updated, but he doubted any map would be. It wasn't like anyone had suddenly decided to explore a now very dangerous realm to map it again. "… Still, it's the best that…" Three knocks on the door. "Come in."

"I brought you something to eat." The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman holding a tray with some food on it. The young man was confused, since he was sure to not have asked anything of the sort, and the woman noticed his confusion. "Ah, nonsense, boy. We're in dire straits, but we do have some food to spare for a guest."

"… I just wasn't hungry." The blonde said, turning his head to the window and denying agreement to the older woman's reasoning, which earned a chuckle from her as she set down the tray just beside his bed.

"And Chocobos fly. Just eat up, now." Cloud very slowly turned his head around and then sighed, accepting the offering of food and immediately going for the piece of bread that laid beside the plate of soup, chomping on it hungrily in spite of himself. "There. Now, that's better. Young men have to eat to grow strong and replace us old people. That's what I always told Bartz too."

"Bartz…" Cloud swallowed slowly, stopping eating at the mention of the name of the 'pirate' he had seen that afternoon. "The pirate from this afternoon?"

"Oh, he hasn't always been a pirate. You know, he was born here, and lived here with his mother and father. Then, seven years ago, after both his mother and then his father passed away, he decided to travel the world. I think he has probably travelled our whole realm, in those three years." That got Cloud's attention, even as the woman's expression got sadder. "The poor kid… I don't know what happened during the catastrophe, but he changed a lot. Right before it, he was still the same Bartz that played around here when he was a child, but after that… He still seems cheerful, but the people who knew him from that time know the difference. Not that it's strange. We all have changed… He put himself into a life of pirating to support our village…"

"… An explorer, hn?" An explorer who had explored the whole southern region of the Lost Continent and who wished to accumulate a certain amount of money for something, and from the look of it he could guess what it was. _… I think I might have a deal for him._

--

In the meanwhile, in a storage room near the front gate of the village, the 'too heavy' barrel laid forgotten. Other than being awfully heavy to move around, the thing had also proved unable to be opened normally. Not wanting to risk to break whatever was inside, the pirates had decided to just leave it closed till they could find a way to open it. They would have been in for a big surprise if they had been there to see a foot suddenly shot up from the inside of the barrel and kick off the lid.

"Darn, I guess I should have removed my elm. They were so rash in picking the barrel up that I fell unconscious…" The figure got out of the barrel slowly, before dropping to the ground, earning a few metallic noises from the clothes he was wearing, slightly armoured. He put his metal helmet back on and began to look around, a hand on his sword hanging by the waist. "Hmm… It looks like some kind of storehouse. Probably where those pirates put all the things they steal… Now, to find their living quarters." The armor-clad teen slowly and silently made his way to the door of the storage house, and slowly opened it. "Hmm… Uh?" He looked around and found himself blinking.

He was expecting a beach, maybe a cave, to better hide their ship, but he had found himself in the middle of what looked like a small village. He could make out that much even at night, and with a clouded sky, but that didn't make sense. Why would pirates have a base so much in the open? "Maybe… They've taken hostage this village to cover their activities… Alright. First thing, I must find out where I am."

He slowly crept out of the storage house and began to sneak by its outer wall, carefully observing his surroundings, especially the trees just out of the village's front gate. When he had thought about following the pirates when they had boarded the merchant ship he was travelling in by hiding in an empty barely, he would have never thought that he would end up in a village who knows where. His plan was just to hide in the barrel, discover the pirates' hideout, hide in the ship during one of the other trips and then go back to the authorities to turn them in, but if they had a whole village hostage things would get a bit more complicated.

"Hmm… Trees, but they're not pines. There are not many kind of trees that grow near the sea…" He picked out a world map out of his pocket and began to observe it, looking for suitable spots and villages for the pirates to use as a hideout, possibly with a forest near it. "Alright. Seeing as they mostly attack ships in this area of the sea…" He circled a spot of water on the map with his finger. "The range in which they travel is probably…"

A noise. Like needles falling to the ground, many, many needles. His ears twitched and he was immediately on his guard, having heard those kind of noises far too many times to not recognize them. One usually heard them coming from animals walking on solid ground like marble, their nails having grown too long. His right hand immediately went for his sword, trying to focus and find the source of the noise.

His search brought him to look at the palisade covering the village, hearing the sound coming from there along with a few creak of wood, but so silent that anyone but someone with a trained hearing would have missed it. He focused his eyes in the darkness, and he began to see humanoid shapes climbing up the palisade, along with a few sets of bright yellow eyes. "… Monsters…"

--

"That merchant ship sure had a full cargo, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but most importantly… Will you tell me why you keep the 'looting register' in my room?" Bartz said while sweatdropping. He could understand why Faris wanted to keep a register of all the things they stole, but why couldn't she keep it in her room and instead decided to just keep it in his own one, he would never understand. "Really, it's been bugging me for months."

"Hmm, you sure are stubborn. Do you ever let anything alone?" Faris said, earning silence from Bartz. She stopped scribbling, noticing that she had made a very poor choice of words. She turned around on her chair to meet Bartz' lowered gaze. "Sorry, I didn't want to…"

"… It's alright. After all, I did leave that alone, didn't I? Not without a good reason…" Bartz had suddenly gotten hypnotized with his own hand, staring at his palm, remembering that once it had been dirtied with blood that he himself had spilled. "But still… I left it alone."

"… You still blame yourself for that, after all this time…" It was Faris' turn to lower her head, suddenly sad as well, before shaking her head in denial to Bartz' reasoning. "Lenna would have…"

"You know, it would have been easier to cope with if you just blamed me for it." Faris froze, her hands clenching in anger at the absurdity of what Bartz had just said. "I killed her, Faris. I killed Lenna."

"If you hadn't, we would have all died… You just did what needed to be done." Faris said, her voice low and angry.

"And yet, I had to wait till she killed Krile before doing it, and after… We couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything. We stopped fighting. ExDeath won." Bartz clenched his hand, which began to tremble. "He won the moment I stuck my sword in Lenna's chest. We lost hope, courage, devotion and passion… Hn!" It was the first time he got slapped by Faris. Over those last four years they had gotten closer to the point that he was able to joke more with her and be consequently hit in various ways, but it was the first time she had ever slapped him. He slowly turned his head around again, staring at the woman's face, and he didn't understand if she was angry or on the verge of tears or both.

"Stop…" She hissed through gritting teeth, a sign of evident anger. "Stop taking all the blame. Stop punishing yourself like this…" Then she dropped her head, her voice becoming rasped, her hands tightening in her lap. "I gave up too, you know? I chose to not fight as well."

"… Faris, you had just lost…"

"My long lost sister! I know, but that's no excuse! I gave up as easily as you, Bartz! I didn't feel like it mattered going on anymore without Lenna, just like you felt that it wasn't worth going on anymore after dirtying your hands with her blood!" Faris raised her voice again, still keeping her head down, her tone becoming a bit softer. "I miss her so much… I've always missed her, and when I found and lost her again I let her sacrifice be for nothing… It took us one year of self-pity to get in gear and help whoever was left…"

"… Faris… Please… You didn't…" Bartz was trying to calm her down, trying to spare her that particular trip down her mind, but it was to no avail.

"I just went back to being a pirate because it's the only thing I do good. I guessed that saving the world was too much if I couldn't even protect my sister…" Faris said, her voice now ripping with sarcasm. "But you're different, Bartz. You didn't give up… Not completely."

"… I think you've had too much to drink, Faris." Bartz chuckled a little here, expressing a fake amusement at her words.

"Then why did you keep the crystal shards?" Bartz seemed to freeze at the mention of the shards. When the crystals shattered, the thing that revealed to him and his companions their destiny was the appearance of a bunch of crystal shards and their very own crystal essences. There was also the fact that coincidentally the four of them had been brought together a few weeks before by circumstances. The crystal shards contained souls of warriors of past, from which they got powers and knowledge.

"…" Bartz now understood why Faris kept putting the register in his room. So that she could look around, not that he could blame her. He had kept to himself the reasons behind his keeping all the money they found on the ships they boarded, and at the same time he had kept to himself what he did on his free time and that he had kept to himself about the crystal shards. "… It's nothing heroic like preparing for a comeback, Faris. I just… I mean, everything we have left is this village. I wanted to be able to protect it. At first, yes, I probably had revenge in mind, but… What's the point? It won't bring back anything, and somewhat, somehow, the Void has stopped from advancing any further. Also, I can't risk my life when so many people rely on me, by now."

"… So, you want to tell me what do you want to do with all the money you're saving up? It has to be a nice amount, by now…" Faris didn't manage to keep a record of the money as well, but she could guess. In three years of pirating Bartz had put aside a lot of money, but he hadn't spent any in those rare times they landed on a more 'civilized' coast. The young man seemed to think about it, pondering if to tell her or not, but he just chose to broke out in the same grin he had given the little girl from that morning.

"Well, you already know, right? It's for our wedding… OW!"

"S-S-Stop saying that or people will start getting ideas!" Faris had reacted like usual, punching Bartz on the head and blushing madly, before turning her head to the side. Bartz just kept on grinning while rubbing the new sore spot.

"What people? There's just you and me, in here…" Bartz said, still exhibiting his playful nature, expecting another round of tsundere from the pirate captain seated away from him, but instead, there was silence. Bartz blinked. Faris seemed to have completely calmed down, just embarrassment remained, as it was showed by her blush and her downcast eyes. At first, Bartz just stared at her in confusion, then he connected the dots and promptly his hand gave in and he fell to the ground with a loud 'Thump'. "W-What… Faris!"

"What? Two people that go together through things like the end of their world and then three years of struggle for survival without developing at least camaraderie… At least." She slowly moved her eyes from the floor to Bartz who was becoming as red as her, if not more.

"Ah… B-But… I mean…" Bartz tried to make a coherent sentence, and failed miserably. He needed to let out a loud groan before being able to say something. "Damn, I mean, this is so sudden…"

"Sudden?" Faris raised her head, and Bartz nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, by the way you always act like a pirate and a man, one would think that romance is the last thing on your mind, right?" Bartz said at a really fast pace, earning a laugh from Faris.

"Yeah? So, what about the subtle hint that I stop talking like a pirate and acting like a man when we're alone in the same room?" Bartz blinked at those words, thinking about what Faris had just said, and realizing that he was probably the densest person in existence. He slumped to the ground red to the ears.

"… Oh, man…" He felt doomed, because right now, there was the matter that Faris waited for an answer from him. Faris had put on the 'shy maid' pose again: eyes cast down, hands curled in her lap, head turned to one side, blush on her face. It didn't help one bit. "Ah… I mean, I…"

He was almost grateful for the shriek that echoed in the air. When he realized that it was a shriek of terror of a young child, not so much.

--

"… One thing is certain. They are no pirates." The young man had remained hidden in the shadows as more and more shapes climbed over the village palisade and slowly got down into the village. He had counted fifteen of them, all looking the same. Small humanoid monsters with wings, claws, a pointed tail, pointed years and yellow eyes, and even if it was dark, he guessed that their body colour was a light violet. Also, they seemed to wear some kind of loincloth, leather wrappings around their feet and a pair of metallic bracers. "… There are too many of them for me alone… Right? Right." _But this is bad… Monsters never come to human settlements, but these did, and they don't look to be here for the local ale._

He remained hidden, reminding himself that he was there for the pirates, not monsters. It was a stealth mission. He had to remain hidden. Then, he saw one of the little monsters head for an open window of a nearby house. He cursed under his breath. _… Maybe… I can take them out one by one._ He slowly jumped out of his hiding place, the monsters in the distance not noticing him, and even if they did, they probably took him for one of their own. He wasn't that taller than them, and the night helped. He went after the one that had climbed up the open window, noticing that the others were trying to go inside houses the same way. _What are they doing? What are they looking for?_

He focused enough to not make any noise while climbing after the first monster, grabbing onto the window he had entered with both hands and raising himself up slowly, to climb. His eyes widened when he saw one of those monsters with his maw open, fangs in sight, hovering over a small asleep girl. Instinctively, he shouted. "Wake up!"

"U-Uh?" The shout startled both the monster, who froze and turned around, and the little girl, who opened her eyes and screamed, frightened by what she found in her eyes once her eyelids opened.

--

"… This should do it." The blond haired man had been going through a plan ever since the woman who had brought him dinner had mentioned to him the figure of this 'Bartz', thinking about the deal he would propose to him. It was because of that that he started going through his possessions right after. He was now holding in his right hand a bright green orb that looked like it was made of something between marble and emerald. "I don't have much use for it. It's not my fighting style. So…"

A shriek. A young girl, coming from the outside. He opened his window and peeked aside, and his eyes immediately detected many humanoid but not human shapes scattered across the village. He turned around, put on his bracer and boots, grabbed his 'bandaged weapon' and jumped outside.

--

"And I was supposed to keep a low profile?!" The blonde youth no longer felt the need to contain his voice as he jumped out of the other window of the room along with the monster that was assaulting the little girl in her bed, since the monsters and the whole village were making enough racket on their own, by now. The monsters, at first startled, was now trying to scratch at his face, and he silently cursed having such a short body. He had grown over the years, but he still wasn't at a normal height for his age, but fortunately, for a monster like this, they were long enough. "Just what kind of monster are you, by the way?"

The youth raised his sword and before the monster could even lay his eyes on it, he lowered it and cut the monster a long gash, going from its left shoulder to the right hip. The small warrior stuck his tongue out when he saw black blood ooze out of the injury, before rotating on himself forward in the air and landing on his feet. He then shot his head to the left and to the right, and he saw that the other monsters had mimicked their companion, climbing on outer walls of houses and entering opened windows. Two young shrieks brought him to look to the gates of the village, to which two monsters were already heading, children on their shoulders. "Got to…"

"I got it." He didn't finish his sentence because he got interrupted by someone who dashed past him. The first thing he noticed of the figure was the enormous weapon strapped to his back, that made his eyes widen.

"H-Hey! If you use something that big, you will hit the children as well!" The figure didn't stop, but he noticed that he did not make a move for his weapon either, and while he wasn't as fast as him, in a few instants he was upon the monsters, and in front of them. He first grabbed the children off their shoulders, startling both the creatures and the younglings. He hoisted both of them on his shoulders and then jumped away on a house's rooftop, prioritizing their safety to the monsters' elimination. "Good! Then…"

"Out of the way!" Again, another person dashed past him with a sword raised in his hand, and he didn't stop before cutting off the two monsters' heads with a single swipe of his sword. This one, he knew, and he paled. He was one of the pirates, he recognized his face, his brown hair and the circlet he wore around his head as he turned around to look in his direction and behind him. "Imps! They're trying to abduct the children!"

"Scum!" And that voice was the barking voice of the captain. He recognized it. He just hoped they didn't recognize him from the merchant ship. "Make a circle around t' palisade! not one o' these monsters leaves t' village on me watch!"

"Aye aye, captain!" He silently cursed and ran on the opposite end of the village, looking to make himself useful on that other side, trying to avoid the pirate's gaze even into the night. Bartz in the meanwhile was going after the other imps who approached the village gate, but because of the colour they could blend well with the night.

"Damn, we really need a fire or something… Uh?" Bartz didn't even finish the sentence before a imp right in front of him got engulfed in an enormous flame, lighting the others around which proved an easy target for his swordsman-ship. He raised his head and found the shape of a spiky-haired man standing on a rooftop along with two children, his hand extended. Bartz raised his head and waved his hands in sign of salute or thanks, he didn't know himself. "Looks like we got someone new in town, hn?"

"Bartz! Stop daydreamin' and get cuttin'!" The brown-haired young man suddenly tensed at Faris' voice ordering him around, but he complied, and all the while the 'stranger' was staring at him, observing how he moved and fought, while targeting the monsters he could with the same magic from before.

"… So that's Bartz." The man said, observing the fight going on below. The imps were almost all dead, and this gave him the time to observe the person mentioned by the old lady. _He's good with a sword… That will turn up useful as well._

--

"Everyone's safe and accounted for?!"

"Yes! No one's got injured! You've been great, guys!" Bartz sighed heavily in relief, as the children embraced their parents, the whole village standing in the middle of the buildings, while the brown haired young man observed the monsters' corpses scattered around.

"Still… They had never attacked the village directly." Bartz said, going through what he knew of imps. They were devil-like monsters that mostly preyed on smaller animals. They preferred to attack lone travellers in group if it came to hunt humans, but they stayed the hell away from settlements. _To attack deliberately the village, it means…_ "A lack of usual prey? That could explain it."

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about the monsters who live around here." Bartz blinked and turned around towards the source of the voice, a grin immediately going to his face, recognizing the man who had helped him.

"Ah, you're the guy who helped me with magic! Thanks, buddy!" Bartz walked to the shorter man and patted his right shoulder. "You've been great help! Damn, you don't see many magic casters nowadays!"

"Hey, you're the guy from this afternoon." The barman said, recognizing his newest host, but to no avail. He was mostly ignored.

"But… What about the other one?" Everyone turned to the source of the newest voice, the little girl who had shrieked and alerted the whole village, the same girl who had received a book that afternoon. In the meanwhile, behind a wall, a shorter blonde tensed.

"Other what, Alexa?" Bartz asked, turning to her and unconsciously patting the spiky haired man on the head instead of the shoulder, much to his annoyance.

"The person who helped me. He threw himself out of a window along with a monster…" The person in question was really getting nervous, but reason came to his help.

_Calm down, calm down. It's just a kid. They'll probably believe it a dream or a hallucination…_

"How did he look like…"

"He wasn't really tall… Shorty! Shorty hero!"

"WHO'S A SHORTY?!" Again, the whole village turned in the same direction, this time in the direction of the raging 'shorty' who had just come out of his hiding place. "Ah…" And realizing his mistake, he mentally cursed himself and then straightened himself, coughing in a closed fist. "Just… Doing my duty…"

"Hey, haven't see you around before. Where did you come out of?" He tensed again at one of the villagers' question. It was time for some serious improvising.

"I came with the merchant ship. Didn't want to impose on your hospitality, so, I just wandered around." _Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it…_

"Ahhh… And what did you come here for?"

_SINCE WHEN ARE VILLAGERS THIS TALKATIVE?! AREN'T THEY SUPPOSED TO BE ALL 'THANK YOU, MIGHTY HERO'?! IT WAS LIKE THIS ONCE, RIGHT?!_ "Nothing much… Just… Sightseeing, I guess." That was the best he could muster on the spot, sadly.

"Ah. You're like the guy with the big sword, then." Good thing they bought it because of the 'guy with the big sword', and now that the armoured youth observed it better, indeed, it WAS big.

"Ehm, yes… You can call me Onion Knight. Traveller and treasure hunter." The youngest of the three 'heroes' of the evening said, crossing his arms in front of his chest with a wide smile on his face.

"Shorty hero!" Just to promptly facefault at the little girl's comment, much to the rest of the crowd's enjoyment.

"… You're Bartz, right?" The blonde removed the taller man's hand from his head, finally, gaining again his attention, and earning a large grin.

"Yep, that's me. Heard about me from someone?"

"Something like that." The blonde man said, nodding and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I've got a proposal for you."

"A… Proposal?" Bartz was tempted to crack a joke about the choice of words, considering the day he had had, but he chose against it when he saw how serious the man in front of him looked. "Ehm… Alright. Shoot."

"… In private." The shorter man replied, before turning his head in the direction of Onion Knight, earning a look of confusion from him. "I think it will interest you too. You're a treasure hunter, right?"

"Me? A… Ah! Right! Of course!" _Need to keep the bluff up, for the moment._ He approached the taller blonde and the brown haired goofy, stopping right in front of them. "By the way, I don't know your name."

"… Cloud." He simply said, before Bartz lead them to his house, leaving the pirates to rid the village's perimeter of the imps' bodies.

--

"So… Private enough?" Bartz turned around with a grin at the two blondes sitting at his table. Cloud turned his head towards the third blonde in the room, who shouldn't have been there at all. "Ah, don't worry about Faris. She's my partner in crime, more or less. Everything you say to me, you can say to her."

"… Understood." Cloud simply said, nodding in understand and approval. He chose a few seconds of silence before cutting to the heart of the matter directly. "I've heard from one of the villagers that you've explored this region for years before the catastrophe. Right?"

"Uh? Well, yes. It's true." Bartz said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was usually proud of his past as a traveller, but in this case, he didn't understand just what it could be to this stranger.

"… Did you travel to the Sealed Castle of Kuza as well, in your travels?" At Cloud's question, the two natives of the region tensed incredibly, while the Onion Knight raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"The Sealed Castle? You mean the one of the legends?" The young blonde said, earning a nod from Cloud.

"… You seem… Pretty knowledgeable about myths." Faris intervened, her voice pretty strained. The younger blonde just smiled mischievously and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Well, what can I say, I'm pretty smart, and it's a pretty interesting myth as well." Onion Knight crossed his arms over his chest, and with his eyes closed began to narrate. "Once upon a time, a fearsome power threatened the world. Each version of the story changes just what kind of threat it is. Some say it was a dragon, others a powerful mage, etcetera. The point of convergence is that to defeat this fearsome enemy, the power of the twelve legendary weapons was used. Once the enemy was put to rest, so were the weapons, inside the sealed castle of Kuza, and there they rest since time immemorial… Or so they say."

"If no one has ever been able to enter the castle, there's a reason." Cloud commented, showing that he had researched more than just myths, before turning his eyes to Bartz. "I was wondering if on your travels you ever heard about a method to enter the castle. Also, I would like your help."

"… Help for… What, exactly?" Bartz said, his voice as strained as Faris' one.

"I want to travel to the castle and take one of the twelve weapons with me." The two natives to the region tensed again, while Onion Knight's eyes widened to comical sizes.

"Ehm… You do realize you'll have to travel through one of the most dangerous and monster-infested region on the planet?" Cloud nodded to the question.

"Most monsters don't worry me. What worries me is that the region's layout could have changed greatly with the catastrophe. Still, I guess that things like point of reference and large sites will still be there, be them in ruins or still in one piece, but I'm not familiar with them. That's why I need a guide." Saying those last few words, Cloud stared at Bartz who was still staring at him like he was the ghost of his father, and so he remained for a few seconds before he snorted, suffocating a laugh.

"A-Alright, big boy. Very funny. Is that all or do you have any other funny jokes to tell?" _There's no way I'm travelling again back there. There's just… Too many memories that I want to suppress._ Bartz's smile was intended to be a goofy one, but it came out strained and almost cynical. "Yes, I'll gladly take you on a suicide run to Kuza castle."

"… You didn't deny about knowing a method to enter the castle." Bartz and Faris flinched together at that comment from Cloud, while Onion Knight just kept on observing the exchange, suddenly interested. "That's enough for me." Cloud suddenly went for a pouch he had strapped on his belt. "You're gathering money for a reason, I saw."

"… What is it to you?" Bartz asked, a bit of anger in his voice, this time. Cloud just replied by putting on the table a bright green orb, confusing the hell out of the room, till Onion Knight recognized just what it was.

"This is… Materia!" The young warrior observed the shining sphere, that looked like it was made of green marble, with awe in his eyes. "It's the first time I see one from this up close!"

"… Materia?" Faris voiced both her and Bartz's thoughts, which were of utter confusion. The young knight nodded frantically.

"Yes! You don't know what is it?!" The two natives to the southern region just shook their heads, earning a sigh from the young blonde. "Alright. Basically, you know about magic, do you? It's said that it was born in the now forgotten realm of Cornelia. In ancient times, everyone could learn how to cast magic, but sadly, it took such a tool on the body that it could be used just a few times a day. The neighbouring kingdom of Paramecia, now lost too, resolved this by making people learn less powerful version of a magic and then train themselves to potentiate it. The weakness was that the original process to obtain mastery of just one magic was painfully long."

"Yes, we know. The once bordering realm of the crystals managed to shorten the process and widen the array of usable magic, also devising a system to discern someone's magic potential." Faris said, her arms crossed over her chest and gripping her arms tightly. "It is also said that it was them that discovered Summons."

"Our own realm had a vast knowledge of magic, managing to discover kinds before unknown, although it had been long lost, and few people able to use magic have been born in centuries." Bartz said uneasily, taking a thoughtful pause here. "So, what's with the history lesson?" Bartz's anger had lessened in favour of interest.

"Exactly! Now, three realms of the imperial mass took the system even further, again studying magic so that it could be wielded by anyone! The realm of Vector, now home to the Emperor, tried to siphon magic abilities from summons, which they called 'Espers', but the practice was barbarian and with the establishment of the empire it fell in disuse. The Great Hyne realm chose instead to fuse together their powers with the ones of the Summons, from them called 'Guardian Forces', in a process called Junction, that also allowed them to rob monsters of their own magic. But…" The young knight moved his face even closer to the shining orb that now rested in the middle of the table. "The Gaia realm, though, really wins the first prize."

"Ehm… Why?" Bartz said, who had now approached the table as well, observing the 'shining globe of marble'.

"The Gaia Realm is best known for being the source of almost all the technology today used and from which there has been improving, mostly in the Great Hyne and Spira realms. Though, also for another reason. Materia." Cloud had decided to continue in the place of the Onion Knight, who quickly decided to continue himself again, though.

"Before the technological era, there was a tribe called the Cetra in the realm who 'talked' to the planet, considering it a living being. One of their theories was that once one dies, he becomes one with the planet and it's 'lifestream', its blood, bringing with him all his memories and knowledge. In the technological era, they discovered that this was true, and thus they began to create Materia." The youth had by now grabbed the orb, holding it carefully in his hand and observing it with attention.

"Basically, the Materia is crystallized lifestream. It contains the knowledge of the planet itself, and it allows the user to cast magic, call upon the help of Summons, boost its physical attributes, learn new skills, lots of things. No learning time, no study. You just take it and will it to fuse with your body. They grow more powerful the more time they stay fused with a person's body, with no collateral effect provided." That earned surprise from both Bartz and Faris.

"That seems… Awfully convenient." Bartz commented, grabbing the globe from Onion Knight's hands to observe it more carefully, earning a 'Hey!' of complaint from the younger warrior. "No, scratch seems. It's so broken that it's not funny. It's strange that they're not spawning around…"

"That's because fabricating Materia is now prohibited, and there are not many that remain from the Gaia realm's once glorious days." Those words were spoken by a now pouting Onion Knight, earning confusion from the two natives to the southern region. "What? I've already said that these things are the crystallized form of the planet's 'blood'. What do you think would happen if you kept on sucking away blood from someone?"

"Ehm… Got it. So, they're rare." Bartz said with a nod.

"Yes. They're very precious and wanted around, mostly because the only way to make more Materia nowadays is to already possess one." Cloud commented, and Bartz snapped his head in his direction, this time. "I've told you that the more time a Materia stays fused with a person's body, the more powerful they become. When they reach a 'master' level, the mastered Materia 'births' a basic version of himself, with no experience, but able to be mastered in the same way and able to cast the same way. That's why most people pay a lot of money to possess one. The one you're holding is a mastered 'Seal' Materia."

"Ah. So…"

"I'm willing to give it to you in exchange for your help." Those words surprised everyone in the room but the person who had spoke them. "You can sell it for a high sum in the guardian islands. There's a dealer in Fabul who had already made me an offer. You will be able to sell it for no less than 200.000 Gil."

"200.000…!" That made Faris and Bartz gasp, the pirate captain being the more startled of the two. _That much money… We could…_ She shook her head, cutting her thoughts before they went too far, anger again evident on her face. "Forget it! All the money in this world will not persuade Bartz to… Bartz?" Faris' raging stopped when her stare fell on Bartz's face, who was staring pensively at the globe in his hands, and thinking heavily about something. Comprehension hit her like a shipwreck. _H-He's thinking about it?!_

"… With that much money… We could…"

"No, you can't!" Faris pulled Bartz by one arm and turned him around to face her. "Bartz, you can't go out there! You could get killed, or… It's too dangerous! It's not worth it!"

"… Actually, it's worth it, Faris." Bartz's words and sudden smile startled Faris more than any other reaction Bartz could have made to her words. "These past four years… I've been doing everything just for this. Waiting for this moment."

"… What are you talking about?" Faris said, her voice as soft as possible, and suddenly Bartz grabbed one of her hands and gave her the Materia. "What…"

"In my room, in the mattress… There are 324.566 Gil." Faris said, startling the woman even more. "With the money that you will gain from selling this it will be more than enough."

"Enough… For what?" She continued, but Bartz just shook his head.

"There's also a letter in the mattress. You'll know what to do once you read it." With that, Bartz let go of her hand and turned to Cloud with a grin. "So, when do we depart?"

"How much time do you need to get ready?" Cloud replied with a question, and Bartz's grin became even bigger.

"Just the time to have breakfast and get packed after a good night of sleep! So I say… Nine o'clock-ish?" He replied, earning a nod of approval from the blonde swordsman, who then turned to the Onion Knight…

"… You want to come too?" Who was going through the process of going through his pouch, with the object still strapped to his belt.

"Oh! Ah! You mean, on this… Adventure?" Caught, the Onion Knight immediately got back in a standing position, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yes. Like most people know, outsiders come to this town just for two reasons: treasure hunting or monster hunting. I don't know which one of the two you are, but… You seem competent enough to not be a burden. We could help each other in our respective tasks." Cloud said, earning a sweatdrop from the younger blonde.

"I'll… Try to think of those words as a compliment." The Onion Knight said, before bringing a hand to his chin in thought.

… _A trip through the wild southern region for the legendary weapons of the sealed castle of Kuza. I came here to solve the pirate problem, but if I managed to bring back one of the weapons… __Scratch Fabul, that will let me have an audience with the Guardian Islands' royal family._ The pensive pose disappeared, the youth's arms crossing over his chest. "Alright, I'm in. I came here with another objective, but I can easily put it aside for such a quest you're offering me, but I'd like to bring back one of the weapons with me."

"Agreed, but you get second choice." Cloud stated, earning a stretched arm and hand from Onion Knight, who he promptly shook after getting back on his feet. "Do you have another name I can call you by?"

"… Onion Knight will suffice. Call me O.K. if it takes too long to say." Cloud just nodded, not really bothered by his newest companion's choice of not sharing his real name. In the meanwhile, Faris just kept on staring at the orb in her hands, because she just didn't have in herself to voice her complaint any further to Bartz, because that was the first time in four years that she had seen him smile and be really happy for something.

"…" _Still… Why do I feel so uneasy?_

--

**Children of Gaia, learn to hold onto hope**

**For there will be a time when darkness**

**Sovereign will become on the world**

**But hope will be what saves you**

**For it will be hope the force of salvation**

**That will bring forward from the deepest darkness**

**Twelve specks of light, everlasting and everburning**

**To defy the void of the world and of their own hearts**

**Against overwhelming odds**

**Against the bleakest outcome**

**Against the prophecy of certain doom**

**They will keep fighting and save your race**

**Hold onto hope, children of Gaia**

**Dissidia: Legend of Gaia**


End file.
